Quiet door lock



May 16, 1961 o. H. HOFFMANN QUIET nooR Locx 1 NV E N TOR. Otto HHazfmm United States Patent QUIET DOOR LOCK Otto H. Hoffmann, 330 Douglass St., Wyomissing, Pa. Filed Jan. 8, 1957, Ser. No. 633,020

1 Claim. (Cl. 292-142) This invention relates to a magnetic doorlock for bedroom and bathroom doors.

An outstanding disadvantage of conventional doorlocks for inside doors is that they are unnecessarily cornplicated and expensive in construction. Furthermore, they are noisy in operation and, at night time, often awaken people that are asleep. When the latchbolt is freed of the keeper, it is automatically retracted from the door with a loud click.

An object of my invention is to provide a novel mag'- netic doorlock which will overcome the above named disadvantages and which is particularly useful for inside doors, such as bedroom and bathroom doors, and which is of relatively simple and inexpensive construction.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide a magnetic door lock or latch for firmly holding a door in the closed position and which is not noisy in operation, thereby providing a very satisfactory type of door for bedrooms.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide magnet elements for locking or latching a door in the closed position, which elements are easily assembledin a door and the maintenance of which is very inexpensive.

A further object is to provide a magnetic doorlock in which the spindle and latch are of exceedingly simpler construction than conventional spindles and latches.

Other objects and `advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following description taken with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a door equipped with a magnetic lock involving the principles of my invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the cushioned stop for the door shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the magnetic button shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary, horizontal sectional view taken through one confronting set of magnetic locking elements shown in Figure l, and

Figure 5 is a similar view showing a modification of the spindle and including a latch.

Referring more particularly to Figure 1, numeral 1 denotes an inside wall of a house having a door frame or jarnb 2 on which is pivotally mounted, a door 3. A pair of cylindrical or disc shaped magnetic buttons, whose construction is shown more clearly in Figure 3, are provided in the edge of the door in vertically spaced relationship, which buttons have outside or exposed surfaces which are the positive poles of the magnet. Magnetic buttons 4 may be made of any suitable highly magnetic material, such as that sold in the trade by the General Electric Co. of Schnectady N Y. as Alnico comprising essentially an alloy of aluminum, nickel and chromium. Corresponding buttons 5, also of disc shape, are recessed and secured to the doorjamb and are so positioned that their negative poles are exposed so that when the door is closed, the respective buttons 4 on the door and 5 on the jamb will be in confronting relationship, therefore the confronting opposite poles thereof will attract each other. A wood screw is inserted through the central holes in each of the buttons for fastening them to the door and door jamb.

One or more doorstops are provided, each of which consists preferably of a metal strip 7 bent over a strip 6 of foam rubber or similar flexible material. Central registering holes are formed in the rubber strip 6 and strip 7, through which a fastening screw may be inserted for mounting the stop on the door jamb 2 by screwing it onto strip 2a fastened to the jamb. I prefer to mount each opposed pair of discs about 16 inches from the top and bottom of the door. Thus, as the door is swung to the shut position, the edge portion of the inside surface thereof will be stopped by the thin edge of the foam rubber pad 6 which projects slightly beyond the edge of strip 2a, thereby arresting further movement of the door and at the same time providing a very quiet stop which will not make a disturbing noise.

In order to open the door, knob 9 is pulled without turning, sufficient pulling force being applied to break the magnetic attraction between buttons 4 and 5. Thus it is not necessary to provide a mechanical latch.

Accordingly, Figure 4 shows the minimum construc- :tion necessary for a magnetic door lock embodying the present invention. Knob 9 has connected thereto a spindle which extends through the entire thickness of the door and is fastened on the-inside by means of a washer or the like. There is no latch since the magnetic discs or buttons provide suticient magnetic force to lock the door in the closed position. It is necessary merely to pull the knob 9 to either open the door, or push it to the shut position.

Figure 5 shows a modification of a magnetic door lock, more particularly, a modif-led construction of the door knob and latch. In this instance, a retractible latch is provided. The outside knob 9 is coupled to the inside knob 13 by means of a spindle 15 on which is mounted a pinion which meshes with a rack 16 on a retractible latch 17 which is adapted to be projected into and out of the registering recess 18 formed in the jamb 2. Suitable spring means (not shown) may be provided for automatically plunging the latch in the recess 18, if so desired.

Of course, instead of four magnetic buttons, only two may be used, or perhaps more than 4 depending upon the amount of magnetic attraction or holding effect desired. Also instead of permanent magnetic buttons 4, such magnets may be in the form of electromagnets, in which instance, separate electric coils must be provided which may be energized by the househeld source of potential. Also the magnetic buttons may be of reverse polarities or may be made into other shapes, such as square shapes or the like so long as they are oppositely disposed in confronting relationship so as to magnetically attract each other.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an efficient magnetic doorlock which is comprised of relatively simple and inexpensive parts which are easily mounted and maintained; furthermore I have provided a type of doorlock or latch which is especially suitable for inside doors, such as bedroom, closet and bathroom doors, since they eliminate the noise which is normally attendant to the closing of such doors which tend to awaken sleepers; furthermore I have provided a spindle and knob construction, or door latch assembly, which is considerably simpler in construction and considerably lower in cost than conventional door latch sets.

While I have illustrated and described a single specific embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that this is by way of illustration only, and that various changes and modications may be made within the contemplation of my invention and within the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

A quiet, privacy lock for an interior door of a dwelling, comprising, in combination, a door jamb and an interior door, resilient door stop means secured to said jamb for engagement with the edge portion of the confronting surface of the door and comprising a strip of metal partially surrounding a strip of rubber, a pair of vertically spaced, disc-shaped permanent magnets recessed in the side edge of the door and secured thereto by a screw extending through central holes in said magnets, corresponding disc-shaped magnets recessed in said jamb in confronting relationship to said rst pair of magnets and with opposite poles exposed thereto, when the door is in the closed position, whereby the door is held closed and held firmly against said rubber strip solely by the magnetic attraction between said pairs of magnets, a door knob, a spindle and pinion rigidly secured to said knob, a retractable latch bolt having a rack with teeth engageable by said pinion in a manner so that the bolt is selectively movable to the latching or retracted position with respect to a keeper in said jamb by turning of said knob and held in either position upon release of the door knob, whereby the unlatched door may be opened merely by pushing the door suiciently to overcome magnetic attraction of said magnets, and whereby `the door may be held in the closed position solely by said magnetic attraction or held in the locked position by turning said door knob to effect latching movement of said bolt.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 61,185 Fowler Ian. 15, 1867 1,226,442 Atwood May 15, 1917 2,203,580 Ronning July 4, 1940 2,209,809 Burton July 30, 1940 2,521,885 Vasquez Sept. 12, 1950 2,690,349 Teetor Sept. 28, 1954 2,761,718 Tool Sept. 4, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,068,908 France Feb. 10, 1954 

